Do partners in international strategic alliances share resources, costs, and risks?

The international business literature posits that the major motive for international strategic alliances is to share resources, costs, and risks in foreign operations. Based on the data collected in 233 alliances in low-tech industries and 192 alliances in high-tech industries, this study finds that the argument is tenable in low-tech industries but untenable in high-tech industries. In high-tech industries, international strategic alliances are mainly used to mitigate environmental dynamism. The identification of different functions of international strategic alliances in low-tech and high-tech industries has important managerial implications.